Three years after being knocked out cold, South Philly’s Christian Carto is boxing again ‘to be champion of the world’

Three years later, professional boxer Christian Carto can recall everything about the bout he refers to as “the loss,” except for one vital detail: the moment Victor Ruiz’s left fist thudded into the right side of Carto’s face, knocking him out and sending him to the hospital in an ambulance.

“You don’t remember getting hit,” Carto said, not that people ask him very often.

Carto, a 25-year-old bantamweight from South Philadelphia and Deptford, N.J., recovered from the upset loss and is fighting again, most recently on April 29, when he knocked out Ernesto Sebastian Franzolini in the first round at 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: Jaron Ennis’ knockout of Custio Clayton puts him in position to fight for welterweight title

But it was only Carto’s second fight since he was knocked to the canvas by Ruiz, a journeyman southpaw from Mexico whose defeat of Carto on Feb. 8, 2019, is his only victory in his last eight fights. Carto has had several challenges since, including an unsparing introspection.

He has also changed managers and had two fights canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, then broke his hand in his first fight in 31 months last September. But first he took two months off after the loss to Ruiz to decide if he really wanted to keep doing this.

“I almost have to embrace it and move forward,” Carto said of the only loss of his 20-fight professional career.

Carto has boxed more than half his life. He won 60 of 70 fights as an amateur, claiming the 108-pound championship at the 2014 U.S. Golden Gloves Tournament in Las Vegas, then finishing third in the 114-pound trials that determined the U.S. team for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

He won by decision over Rahkeam Parker in his pro debut in Reading, Pa., on July 2, 2016 — the first of 10 fights in a year. Fighting in Philadelphia or Atlantic City before a loud and loyal group of fans, he rolled to a 17-0 record — on the fast track, it seemed, toward a title fight.

“If you’re in a sport, the main goal is to be the champion of the world,” he said.

But then Ruiz knocked him out in the second round. Carto, with a neck brace and oxygen mask, was taken by stretcher from the arena to Jefferson Hospital. He was conscious within a minute or so, was responsive en route to the hospital, and was dismissed after midnight.

“There was this crafty veteran, and some things just happen, and you’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” said Frank Carto, Christian’s 29-year-old brother and manager.

Nevertheless, Frank Carto was shocked by the suddenness and effect of Ruiz’s punch: “I think everybody was. He got a good shot in. But Christian is strong now. He’s learned.”

Carto played baseball and hockey as a boy, only deciding to move full-time to boxing when he was 15. A graduate of St. Augustine Prep, he is taking two classes a semester at Rowan University, near his home — “I was actually on the dean’s list this semester,” he said — as he works toward a bachelor’s degree in health sciences.

He could have gone to work full-time for his father, also named Frank, who owns two small businesses in South Jersey. But boxing runs deep in the veins of the Carto family. Carto’s grandfather was a boxer, as were two uncles. His brother took Christian to the gym for the first time when he was just 8 years old.

After the knockout blow and subsequent concussion, Carto would have had to spend time away from the gym anyway to recover, but his father said, “It’s hard to process something like that. We just left him alone for two months. Didn’t speak to that [loss]. Nothing.

“I never heard Christian feel sorry for himself,” his father added. “Not once. Ever.”

But Carto uses words like “confused” and “embarrassed” to describe his emotions immediately after the loss. During his time off, he decided he wanted to box again. He said his family helped him make that decision, saying, “They always gave me the best advice in life.”

Carto passed several concussion tests and was cleared by health officials to return to boxing about six months after the loss to Ruiz, but he had already started going to his gym, Philly Boxing 1 on 1 in Frankford, to do some light training — “getting his feet wet again,” as he put it.

“When I went back in, I decided that I don’t want to go back into the gym to just train,” he said.

Carto determined last year that he would benefit from a new trainer. His old trainer was a “good guy,” but he needed a new approach. For that, he contacted a trainer who also happened to be an old friend, Derek “Bozy” Ennis, whose 24-year-old son, Jaron, or “Boots,” is a world contender. After knocking out Custio Clayton on May 14, Jaron Ennis is now in position to fight for the welterweight title.

Bozy Ennis and his assistant, Lawrence Smalls, “were the best things that could have happened for my career,” Carto said. “It’s the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. Every day, they teach me new things. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.”

Carto and Boots Ennis are like brothers, Bozy Ennis said. So Carto gets tips from Boots. Carto also has leaned on Bozy Ennis and Smalls, who is known as “L.” Bozy Ennis said unequivocally of Carto, “He should be world champion.”

That is still a ways off. Carto is looking for his next fight, hopefully this summer against a challenger with a similar profile. He says the loss seems like it happened a long time ago, and he was not afraid to step back into the ring. But it still was a setback, a stunner.

Bozy Ennis said of Carto’s loss to Ruiz, “That’s hard, a hard thing to swallow. The guy he fought, he wasn’t supposed to lose to that guy. When you lose, that’s a hurting feeling. Nobody likes losing.”

But Ennis added, “He’s got it now. If he’d ever want to fight that guy again, Christian will stop him.”

Carto calls the loss a “blessing in disguise,” though, truth be told, he said he did not need to be knocked out to learn a hard lesson. He could have been better prepared for that fight, but he also said no one wants to hear excuses after losses. He keeps moving on.

He knocked out Franzolini in the first round on April 29. Thirty-six hours later, he participated in the Broad Street Run, primarily to get in a light workout. The race started, and Carto found himself being passed. So he kicked it into gear. He finished the 10-mile run in 68 minutes, a personal best.

“I enjoy life,” he said. “I’m a happy person.”